White Rabbits hit the scene a couple years ago with a standout debut, Fort Nightly, and caught the attention of lots of us, including some contemporaries. The band did the festival circuit, and also went out on tour with The Walkmen, Spoon, Richard Swift, The Cribs, White Denim and Tokyo Police Club among others in the two years after the debut dropped. When the band finally had a moment to breathe, they took advantage of their new relationships and got to work on album number two.

While I know some felt that Fort Nightly had some “Spoon-ish” qualities to it, I did not draw the comparison as much, however the collaboration between the Rabbits and Britt Daniel on this new album, as Britt is the producer, makes the comparison a little tougher to ignore this time around.

That is not to say that Britt has made White Rabbits sound like the second coming of Girls Can Tell, which would not be a bad thing by the way, but rather that the crispness and bite that I have come to expect from Spoon is all over It’s Frightening, the new album from White Rabbits. It could also have something to do with the fact that in addition to Britt, White Rabbits enlisted the help of Austin based studio wiz Mike McCarthy to mix the album and his respected fingerprints are all over it as well.

The album plays like a complete work from start to finish, and has the type of cohesive sound you would expect from a band in mid-career stride rather than a group on their second album. It starts with a band on the lead tune and single “Percussion Gun” with certainly sounds just like the title suggests, and sets the tone of the record. There are moments that are more mid-tempo on the album as well, as the band is able to take a step back from the excitement and show a more introspective side as well. Overall, it’s an album that should put White Rabbits in front of even more people than before, which would be a well deserved position for this excellent upcoming band.

The album is out on May 19th in the US from TBD Records.

White Rabbits – Percussion Gun

Tour dates after the jump….

5/21 – Bowery Ballroom – New York NY
5/30 – Grog Shop – Cleveland OH
5/31 – Do Division Fest – Chicago IL
6/01 – Summit – Columbus OH
6/02 – Rock N Roll Hotel – Washington DC
6/04 – Middle East – Boston MA
6/05 – Johnny Brendas – Philadelphia PA
6/06 – Brillobox – Pittsburgh PA
6/09 – Mojos – Columbia SC
6/10 – Firebird – St Louis MO
6/11 – Bonnaroo – Manchester TN
6/14 – Emo’s – Austin TX
6/16 – Club Congress – Tuscon AZ
6/17 – Casbah – San Diego CA
6/18 – Troubadour – Los Angeles CA
6/20 – Independent – San Francisco CA
6/22 – Crocodile Cafe – Seattle WA
6/23 – Doug Fir – Portland OR
6/24 – Neurolux – Boise ID
6/25 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake UT
6/26 – Bluebird – Denver CO
6/27 – Slowdown JR – Omaha NE
6/29 – 400 Bar – Minneapolis MN
6/30 – High Noon – Madison WI
7/1 – Empty Bottle Chicago IL
7/02 – Pike Room – Pontiac WI
8/1 – All Points West Festival – Liberty State Park NJ